Evening with Jake Shimabukuro 2/12/18

Evening with Jake Shimabukuro 2/12/18

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Jake Shimabukuro can still vividly remember the first time he held aukulele, at age four. It was an encounter that would shape his destinyand give the world one of the most exceptional and innovative ukeplayers in the history of the instrument—an artist who has drawncomparisons to musical titans such as Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis.

“My mom played, and I kept bugging her to teach me,” he recalls. “Soone day we sat down on the floor and she put her old Kamaka ukulele inmy hands. I remember being so nervous. Then she showed me how tostrum the strings and taught me my first chord. I fell in love with theukulele immediately. From that day on, you had to pry the instrumentaway from me in order to get me to do anything else.”

That first brush with musical fate took place in Honolulu, Hawai’i, whereJake was born and still makes his home. Growing up, he studied andplayed a number of other musical instruments—drums, piano and guitar.“But none of those instruments spoke to me the way the ukulele did,” hesays. “There was something about the uke that was different. Music wasmy passion, but I had no idea that I could make it as a musician. I alwaysthought that maybe I’d be a school teacher and incorporate music intothe classroom, rather than being on a stage performing in front ofpeople.”

Of course, Shimabukuro would end up performing on many of the world’smost renowned stages. Starting his career in Hawai’i, he took hisinspiration from some of the islands’ great uke players—Eddie Kamae,Ohta-San and Peter Moon. But he quickly expanded his scope fromthere, drawing influences from across the musical spectrum.

“As I got older,” he says, “I realized that I could also learn from guitarplayers, drummers, violinists, pianists, singers and even dancers. Andthen I started to observe athletes. Athletes are artists too. I was heavilyinfluenced by people like Bruce Lee and Michael Jordan - applying theirphilosophy and intense, mental focus to music performance.”

As a member of the group Pure Heart, Shimabukuro became a localphenomenon. From Hawai’i, his fame next spread to Japan. He wassigned to Epic Records (Sony/Japan) in 2001 as a solo artist. It was thestart of what would become a deep catalog of solo albums, noted fortheir dazzling fretwork, ambitious repertoire and wistful melodicism. Andin 2005, Shimabukuro became an international phenomenon when avideo of him performing the George Harrison song “While My GuitarGently Weeps” went viral on YouTube.

“At the time, I didn’t even know what YouTube was,” Jake laughs.“Nobody did, especially in Hawai’i. But I had some friends who weregoing to college on the mainland and they sent me a link to the video. Bythe time I saw it, it already had millions of views. My name wasn’t evenon it then. All it said was ‘Asian guy shreds on ukulele,’ or something likethat. That’s what opened up the doors to touring in North America,Europe, Asia and beyond. It was a big turning point for me.”

By adapting a guitar hero anthem for the ukulele (Eric Clapton hadplayed lead guitar on the Beatles’ original recording) Shimabukuro madea significant statement: The ukulele, with its humble four strings andmodest two-octave range, is an instrument limited only by theimagination and creativity of the person playing it. Along with his ownoriginal compositions, Jake became noted for his solo uke arrangementsof such varied pieces as Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Schubert&#39;s“Ave Maria” and Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.”

“A lot of those are just songs that I really love,” he says. “I’d sit at homeand work out how to play some of them on the ukulele. A lot of it is formy own curiosity. I always wondered, ‘Man, what would “BohemianRhapsody” sound like on a ukulele?’ And then it’s my stubborn naturenot to give up until I’d figured out how to do it.”

Widespread acclaim brought high-visibility collaborations with a widerange of artists including Yo-Yo Ma, Jimmy Buffett, Bette Midler, CyndiLauper, Jack Johnson, Ziggy Marley, Dave Koz, Michael McDonald, BelaFleck and the Flecktones, Tommy Emmanuel, and Marty Friedman.Jake Shimabukuro has topped Billboard’s World Music Chart onnumerous occasions, and has sold out prestigious venues and festivalssuch as the Hollywood Bowl, Lincoln Center, Sydney Opera House, WolfTrap, Bonnaroo, SXSW, and the Playboy Jazz Festival. He even playedfor Queen Elizabeth II at The Royal Variety Performance in Blackpool,England.

Shimabukuro’s busy touring schedule—140 dates a year—iscomplemented by a rich and varied catalog of albums that capture themany moods of the uke. His most recent CD, Nashville Sessions, is oneof his most adventurous, multifaceted and engaging records to date,blending elements of jazz virtuosity with heartfelt melodicism.

A husband and father of two, Jake balances his stellar career withfamily life and community service. He travels to schools around theworld spreading positive messages to young people, encouraging themto live drug free and find their passion—just as he did at age four whenhis mother gave him his first ukulele lesson. In the time since then, hehas played a key role in the current revival of interest in the ukulele.

“When I first started touring the mainland,” he recalls, “everybody wouldsay, ‘Oh man, I didn’t know you could play that kind of music on thatthing.’ But now there are so many iconic artists playing the ukulele, likePaul McCartney, Eddie Vedder, Train, Jimmy Buffett, Michael McDonald,Dave Mathews and Taylor Swift. Even popular cartoons like ‘Peg + Cat’and ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’ have ukulele soundtracks. The popularityof the ukulele keeps growing every year. And I’m constantly discoveringnew sounds, styles and expressive possibilities within the instrumentthrough projects like the Nashville Sessions album. By the time wefinished that recording, I already had tons of ideas for the next album. Ican’t wait to get back into the studio and experiment some more.”